


To Boldly Go Where No Lawyer Has Gone Before

by TheRedshirtWhoLived



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Heroine's Journey, Historical Accuracy, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Retconning, Slow Burn, cameo appearances - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-09-21 09:11:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9541043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRedshirtWhoLived/pseuds/TheRedshirtWhoLived
Summary: Katherine Walker was content with her life as a lawyer for Palmer Technologies. But everything changed when her best friend invited her to follow him on the hunt for Vandal Savage. By using the gifts she's hidden for so long, Katherine will become not only a hero... but a Legend.





	1. The Call

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first work in the Arrowverse. I will probably go AU here, but only because I want to give my favorite characters the happy endings they deserve. 
> 
> I really hope you all enjoy this. Reviews and feedback are welcome. 
> 
> Dedicated to my beta, MaCall, and my awesome family.

  _STAR Labs Med-Bay_

 

Katherine rolled her ankle impatiently as Caitlin Snow took the pad of her stethoscope off her back and jotted something down on her chart. Katherine was usually a pretty patient person, but there was something about STAR Labs that made her want to get out of there as soon as possible. Maybe it was the stark silvery-white space age decor scheme that dominated the place. Maybe it was all the fact that she’d only ever seen three people there on a regular basis.

 

Whatever it was, Katherine didn’t like the place too much. She _especially_ didn’t like having to travel six hundred miles to go there for well checks just because the particle accelerator explosion had saddled her with abilities that she didn’t want or need and had so far proved more trouble than they were worth.

 

“Okay, Katherine, everything’s looking good so far. Have you noticed any weird symptoms, any unexpected changes lately? Any upper limit to your abilities?” The hopeful note at the end of her last question made Katherine close her eyes for a moment before responding.

 

Katherine brushed her curly brown hair over one shoulder and sighed. “Caitlin, we’ve been over this before. I don’t particularly _want_ to know if there’s an upper limit to what I can do, how strong I can be.”

 

Caitlin frowned. “But you could help so many people! Katherine, you’ve got what it takes.”

 

Cisco looked up from his giant bank of monitors. “Hey, if we’re talking about Katherine being a hero, I’ve already got LOADS of possible codenames. Backlash, Karma, Ricochet, Tank… And you should see what I’ve come up with for your suit, it’s sick- “

 

Katherine groaned. “ _Cisco..._ we’ve gone over this. I don’t _want_ a suit. Or a codename.”

 

Cisco pouted for a moment. “Not even a codename? Felicity doesn’t go around wearing a supersuit and she has one!”

 

“ _Cisco…”_

“All right, shutting up.” Cisco threw up his hands and turned back to his work.

Caitlin smiled sympathetically at Katherine. “Would you at least consider giving me a tissue sample? Your cells’ energy-absorption properties could revolutionize-

 

“I don’t want to revolutionize anything! I already help people, Caitlin. I’m a lawyer, and a good one. I make sure people’s ideas don’t get stolen. I…” She trailed off into silence, then blurted, “I know you’ve got nothing but the best intentions for me and my abilities, Caitlin. But you’re not the only one interested in what I can do. If I do what you’re proposing, sooner or later people like Amanda Waller are going to come for me. And when they do…” She and Caitlin both shuddered in unison. Both women had heard stories about Amanda Waller’s legendary ruthlessness, stories that really didn’t bear thinking about.

 

“We’d protect you, Katherine. We’d make sure you stayed safe, that nobody found out you’re a metahuman—”

 

Katherine grimaced. “You’d have to publish eventually, and people would want to know who your metahuman source is. The fact is, Caitlin, that my best chance at safety lies in anonymity. As in not using my powers.”

 

Before Caitlin could respond, Katherine’s phone rang. She turned and grabbed her handbag, rooting through it to find her phone. When she finally found it, she looked at the screen and winced. “I’m really sorry, Caitlin, but I need to take this. It’s my emergency line.”

 

Caitlin nodded understandingly. “Go right ahead.”

 

Katherine pressed answer and raised the phone to her ear. “Katherine Walker speaking.”

 

To Katherine’s surprise, a low, growly voice distorted through some technological wizardry answered her. “Hello, Ms. Walker.”

 

Adrenaline shot through her, making her sit bolt upright. Only a very small number of people had her emergency number, and she knew all of their voices. This voice was distinctly unfamiliar. Somehow, a stranger had gotten her emergency number. This was either a very bad prank, a trap, or her best friend needing her help.

 

With the hand that wasn’t holding the phone, Katherine grabbed a pen and a scrap of paper lying near the examination table. _GET CISCO_ , she scrawled. Caitlin nodded in a quick birdlike motion and shot out of the room.

 

Once Caitlin had left, Katherine turned her attention to the mysterious caller. “Who are you, and how did you get this number?”

 

“I’m the Green Arrow, and I got this number because you’re Ray Palmer’s emergency contact.”

 

Katherine sighed. “Ray Palmer is dead, mister. Don’t you watch the news? He died a couple of years back in an explosion at PalmerTech headquarters.” This was the standard lie she told people when they asked her about her connection to the eccentric scientist. Katherine was one of the only people who knew he was alive, and even though she personally thought he should shout his being alive from the rooftops, twitchier heads than hers had prevailed, and her friend’s alive-ness remained a closely guarded secret.

 

As she spoke, Cisco and Caitlin barreled into the room. Katherine rolled her eyes and began to write again: _SOMEONE’S CALLING MY ALTERNATE NUMBER CLAIMING TO BE THE GREEN ARROW. I NEED THE CALL TRACED_. Katherine only used the number the stranger had called her on for business relating to metahumans, vigilantes, and the like. She could count on one hand the number of people who had that number. All of those people had been specifically told only to call her if Ray was somehow incapacitated and she was the only person close enough to make it in time. The fewer people who knew that she was connected to the small community of people who ran around in masks protecting their cities, the better. Cisco’s eyes widened, and he raced out of the room.

 

The caller sounded vaguely amused. “I think the fact that I’m calling you on this line instead of your usual number indicates that you can drop the pretense with me, Ms. Walker.”

 

“Point. How do I know you are who you say you are?”

 

“What?”

 

Katherine groaned. It _would_ be just like Ray to forget to give Team Arrow instructions for proving their identities. Her voice hardened. “Recognition phrase. Now.”

 

“Oh, for…” Suddenly Katherine could hear scuffling in the background. “ _No,_ Felicity, I’m not giving you the phone! You’re supposed to be figuring out who’s trying to trace the call!” The scuffling continued for a few more moments, then Felicity Smoak came on the line. Katherine beamed. Felicity Smoak had always been her friend, even after she and Ray had broken up. It had scared Katherine senseless when Felicity had been hurt in that accident, and hearing that Felicity had been paralyzed had been one of the worst moments of Katherine’s life. Hearing Felicity arguing with the Green Arrow meant that her friend was out of the hospital, which was music to Katherine’s ears.

 

Just then, Cisco poked his head into the room. “It’s okay, Katherine, the call’s coming from the Arrowcave. Or at least I _think_ it is, someone managed to shut me down before I got too far-”

 

“Thanks, Cisco,” said Katherine as she covered the phone with one hand. “We’re good.” She turned back to her conversation. “So, Felicity. I assume Mr. Growly back there was our friend the Green Arrow?”

 

“You assume right,” chirped Felicity. “Honestly, he can be _such_ a drama queen some of the time, actually, all the time is probably more accurate.” (A muffled “Hey!” resounded in the background.) “Shush!” hissed Felicity. “I’m on the phone! Anyway, Katherine, so sorry to bother you with this, but Ray went off coms an hour ago. He was trying to break into a HIVE facility, sabotage one of their computers.”

 

Katherine’s eyes widened. “Do we have the last few minutes before he went offline?”

 

“Yeah. Hang on a sec…” Her fingers tapped at a keyboard briefly, then Katherine heard Ray speaking with the whoosh of the exosuit’s thrusters in the background.

 

“ _This feels good, being back in the field. Not that this is a field, but…”_ Katherine rolled her eyes. That was Ray, all right. Not even the shrewdest of operators could have replicated that enthusiasm.

 

“ _Ray, are you up for this?”_ asked a stranger.

 

Katherine frowned. She could have _sworn_ that was Oliver Queen.

 

_“Uh, too late to turn back now.”_

 

Katherine shook her head. That was just like Ray. He threw himself completely into everything he did. It made her want to strangle him and hug him at the same time.

 

“ _Hey, someone removed the central processing unit.”_

 

Okay, so he was in mini-mode, flying around inside a computer. That particular feature was part of what made him so perfect for sabotage missions.

 

“ _Are you sure?”_

 

 _“I designed the CPU, so, yeah, pretty sure.”_ Katherine smiled at the unique mix of pride and self-assurance in Ray’s voice.

 

Katherine could practically hear the confused frown in maybe-Oliver’s voice. _“Well, HIVE would only remove it if they knew…”_

 

“ _You had me shrink down and fly inside their secret computer lab? My night’s about to get a whole lot worse, isn’t it?”_ He didn’t seem too fazed at the prospect. Katherine shook her head. Ray was her best friend, but there were times…

 

“ _Oh, you can take them.”_

 

“ _They have guns,”_ Ray protested.

 

“ _You have a supersuit.”_

 

Ray sighed slightly. “ _It’s time to start growing. This is gonna get a little rough!!!”_ His voice trailed off, and Katherine heard the distinctive whining whirr of the exosuit expanding in size at an exponential rate, then the crunching sound of silicon boards and plastic casings shattering as Ray exploded out of the computer he was inside. The next few minutes were filled with the distinctive whine of Ray’s electron beams, the wet thud of suited fists hitting flesh, and grunts and yelps of exertion. Before long, the sounds of battle died away, replaced by Ray’s heavy breathing and the gentle background noise of the suit.

 

Then, she heard someone begin to clap slowly, almost mockingly. Icy fingers of fear walked their way down her spine. “Felicity, _please_ tell me Darhk doesn’t have him again.” When Ray had been captured the first time, he’d been trapped in a tiny glass cage for six months and almost died for real. Katherine honestly didn’t know what she’d do if Damien Darhk had him again.

 

“Just keep listening, okay? This is where it gets weird.”

 

To Katherine’s surprise, a man with a British accent began to speak. “Oh,” he said, “I am not one of your adversaries.” Okay, that was definitely not Damien Darhk.

 

Then, Katherine heard a loud whine before the feed cut to static. “Okay, you’re right. That’s weird. So what do you want me to do about it?” Beneath her seemingly calm tone, Katherine was pretty scared. Her best friend was in the hands of a completely unknown person, and while the British newcomer _said_ he wasn’t hostile, that didn’t mean he actually _was._

 

“We just got a ping on his location on a rooftop in Central City. We’d send Green Arrow, the Canary, Speedy, or Spartan, but Green Arrow’s down with the flu and Speedy, Spartan, and the Black Canary are on patrol, and none of them could get there in time anyway. You and the Flash are the closest people we’ve got.”

 

Katherine sighed. “Flash is out on patrol right now, so I guess I’m it. Where is he?”

 

Felicity rattled off an address. “I’m sending coordinates to your phone now. If he moves, you’ll know about it.” She paused for a moment, sensing Katherine’s nervousness. “Katherine, I wouldn’t be sending you into this if I wasn’t confident you’d be safe. I’ve got a few connections with ARGUS, and everyone’s saying that nobody’s looking for you right now. Ray seems fine. His vitals are doing okay. He seems kind of excited, but he’s stable, which indicates that he’s not in any danger. Trust me. You’ll be fine.”

 

Katherine exhaled in a soft whoosh, resigning herself to her fate. “If you say so, Felicity.”

 

Truthfully, if it was anyone else, if it were the Green Arrow or the Flash in danger, Katherine would just hang up and go about her business; but Ray wasn’t just anybody else to her. He was her boss, her best friend, and she’d cared about him from the moment she’d met him. She’d follow Ray Palmer to hell and back, and she knew it. And she found that knowledge more than a little terrifying.

 

<h/r>

 

A quick taxi ride brought Katherine to Ray’s last known location, and before she knew it, she found herself staring up at an old six-story building, heart in her throat. This was, hands down, one of _the_ most dangerous situations she’d ever been in. Sure, Ray could be waiting up on that rooftop, safe and sound with that infectious, sunny grin on his face. Or he could be in the middle of a nest of enemies, fighting for his life, and she probably wouldn’t be able to help. Or it might not even be him up there, it might be a piece of the exosuit with a bunch of agents ready to haul her off to a lab and subject her to unimaginable tortures.

 

Whatever was waiting for her, there was no use in hiding from it. She walked around the building, searching for an unlocked door and finding nothing. She sighed. “Oh, something tells me I’m going to regret this for sure.”

 

Grimacing, she turned and kicked the brick wall of the building as hard as she could.

 

To most people this would have seemed like an act borne of anger, frustration, grief, or possibly stupidity. And in truth, Katherine was angry and frustrated. But really she’d kicked the wall for entirely different reasons.

 

Strength raced through her veins like lightning, suffusing her until her entire body thrummed with strength, even as the pain rocketed up from her foot. She felt like she’d just drunk a thermos of her very favorite coffee, energized and ready, and a slow smile curved her lips. Then, she balled her right hand into a fist and punched clean through the lock.

 

 _This_ was her power. Katherine Walker did not react to kinetic impacts like normal people did. The kinetic energy didn’t result in cuts or bruises and broken bones. Instead, it flowed into her cells, supercharging them and giving her superstrength and a form of invulnerability.

 

Once he’d found out, Ray had changed her ringtone to “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.” Katherine had changed his to “Iron Man” in retaliation.

 

Katherine pulled the door open and began to lope up the first flight of stairs she could find, peering at the dimly lit signs indicating roof access. Occasionally, she had to stop to break through a door, wincing each time she did. “Barely thirty minutes into using my powers, and I’ve already committed breaking and entering,” she grumbled. “This is why I’m _not_ a superhero.”

 

She slowed down slightly as she approached the door marked _Roof Access_ , listening carefully for sounds of struggle or footsteps that weren’t the distinctive _clank_ of the exosuit’s sabatons. Nothing.

 

She ran into the door once, bounced off, let the familiar strength race through her veins. Then, she kicked the door open with the side kick she’d struggled to learn in all the self-defense classes she’d gone in her efforts to keep herself safe from those who would misuse her powers.

 

Katherine barreled onto the roof, looking around wildly, only to find…

 

Nothing. Nothing except for Ray Palmer standing there, wearing that gorgeous (no, not gorgeous!) bright smile of his. Surprise flickered across his face as he noticed Katherine, then he smiled even brighter, if such a thing were possible.

 

“Katherine! What are you doing here?”

 

Katherine rolled her eyes. “Shut up, Ray. Do you have _any_ idea how worried we’ve been? I had the Green Arrow calling my emergency line in the middle of a doctor’s appointment! You went off coms in the middle of a mission. Of _course_ we’re going to be worried.” Grumbling slightly, she grabbed his arm and started tugging him towards the stairwell. “What the hell happened, anyway?”

 

Ray just grinned that slightly sheepish grin, and Katherine groaned. “Oh, great.” He had _that_ expression on. The one that made her feel a strange mix of nervousness, fear, and excitement. Usually that expression led to lab explosions, late nights, copious amounts of coffee, someone losing their eyebrows, lawsuits, PR disasters, or some combination thereof.

 

“What?”

 

“I know that look, Ray Palmer!”

 

He just looked confused at that. “What look?”

 

Katherine threw up her hands in exasperation. “ _That_ look! The one you were giving me just now! The one you always get when you’ve discovered something you think is awesome and will almost definitely almost get you killed and make my life much more complicated than it needs to be!”

 

He opened his mouth to speak, but Katherine cut him off with a raised hand. “I don’t want to hear it. Not until we’re safely back in Star City and I’ve eaten. Using my super-strength makes me hungry.” As if to underscore her statement, Katherine’s stomach let out a little growl. “Now, can you fly home, or do I need to get you a train ticket?”

 

Ray shook his head. “Something shorted out the suit’s systems. I’m guessing it was the same thing that brought me here – I’ll explain about that on the way back to Star City.”

 

Katherine shook her head. “I was _really_ hoping you wouldn’t say that. I don’t even _want_ to think about the challenges involved in getting you home.”

 

Ray frowned in confusion. “Why would that be a problem?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you’re legally dead and wearing a suit that looks like something out of a sci-fi movie? Things like that tend to attract a _wee_ bit of attention.”

 

Ray chuckled, and Katherine resolutely ignored the way her stomach did a little flip at the sound. She was thirty-three years old, a professional. She did _not_ get butterflies in her stomach.

 

Ever.

 

“C’mon, Katherine! It’ll be fine!”

 

Katherine groaned. The “I’m-so-excited” grin plus a reassurance that she would be fine?

 

Oh, not again.

 

<h/r>

 

The journey out of the building was considerably quicker than the trip in, largely because Katherine didn’t have to break any locks. Once outside, they walked a few blocks (Ray attracting a few odd looks, just as Katherine had predicted) before Katherine hailed a taxi.

 

They waited for around twenty minutes before a car painted a noxious shade of green rolled up. The cabbie poked his head out the window, and his eyes widened. “You’re dressed funny there, mister.”

 

Katherine grinned, trying not to sound too sheepish. “Oh, we’re on our way home from LARPing.”

 

The cabbie furrowed his brows in confusion. “LARPing?”

 

Ray chuckled, and Katherine winced at the forced tone to it. “Live action role playing. We dress up in costumes and run around pretending to be fictional characters. It’s fun.” The man had _no_ subterfuge skills. “I’m Iron Man, she’s Pepper Potts.” To Katherine’s shock, Ray slung an arm around her shoulders, pulled her close, and dropped a soft kiss to the top of her head. She froze as her skin tingled pleasantly and her treacherous little nerves went into overdrive. She felt her face heat up and hoped it was dark enough to conceal her blush. 

 

The cabbie just gave them a knowing little smile. “Hop in, you two.”

 

Katherine wasted no time in bundling Ray into the backseat of the cab and away from the prying eyes of any inconveniently placed traffic cameras. The cabbie glanced back at the two of them. “So where to?”

 

“Central City Train Station, please.”

 

Once they were on their way, Katherine dug out her phone. At Ray’s questioning expression, she explained in a low whisper, “I need to call Felicity. You’ve been off coms for an hour and a half at least. They’re worried sick about you.”

 

Ray winced. “Tell them I’m really sorry about that.”

 

Katherine rolled her eyes. “Oh, shush. It’s not your fault, it’s the fault of whoever knocked you out mid-mission and brought you here.” Without giving him a chance to respond, she unlocked her phone and called Felicity. The phone rang for barely a second before Felicity picked up. “Hey, Felicity, this is Katherine. I found Ray. Somehow, he got on a rooftop in Central City in what I’m sure is a very interesting story. The suit’s shorted out somehow, but he’s fine.”

 

The line crackled as Felicity sighed with relief. “Oh thank God. Katherine, I can’t thank you enough for doing this.”

 

Katherine yawned as her stomach growled again. “Thank me by having a couple orders of EBTKS sushi roll and edamame and about four of my usual from Big Belly waiting back at Ray’s lab in Star City. I’d forgotten how hungry I got after using my powers.”

 

“Sure, Katherine. Where are you now?”

 

“We’re in a cab on our way to Central City train station. Would you mind getting Ray a train ticket? I can’t exactly have him waltz up to the train station and ask for a ticket to Star City when the world knows him as dead.”

 

A keyboard clicked for a moment, then Felicity responded. “Okay, I just took care of it. Katherine, your ticket’s on your emergency phone, Ray’s is on your usual one. The one you normally use, I mean. Not this one.”

 

Katherine pulled out her normal phone, the one she used for normal conversations, keeping track of her schedule, and such, and sure enough, the QRC code for a train ticket from Central to Star had popped up on her screen. She chuckled. “First class, huh? I’ll say this, Felicity. You certainly know how to compensate a girl for her trouble.”

 

Felicity laughed. “Katherine, you took a huge risk for us. Next time we go out, drinks are on me.”

 

Katherine grinned. “It’s a deal. I’ll text you when we get to Star City, okay?”

“Okay. You get into any trouble, call me.”

 

“I will if I’m not too busy fighting for my life. You take care of yourself, Felicity, okay? Don’t go pushing yourself. You only just got out of the hospital!”

 

“I’ll be fine, Katherine. Stay safe!” She hung up.

 

Katherine pulled up the QRC code on her emergency phone and handed it to Ray. “That’s your ticket back to Star City. My car’s still parked at the train station there. We’re going to go to your lab, you’re going to fix the suit, and then you’re going to explain precisely what the hell is going on. _Is that clear?”_ Normally, she wasn't anywhere near this gruff with him. But... he had just scared the living hell out of her, pulling a stunt like that. She had been really worried.

 

Ray grinned at her. “Yes, ma’am. So, how are things at STAR Labs?”

 

Katherine sank back into the cushions of the seat. “Just the same as normal. Someone actually put up a speed limit sign for the Flash. ‘No going over 60 mph indoors.’”

 

They chatted idly all the way to the train station. Well, Ray talked. Katherine mostly listened. That had been one of the things that led to them becoming friends so easily. Ray had a tendency to ramble, and Katherine was usually willing to listen, up to a point. She’d gently remind him that he was talking her ear off if he was. That almost never happened. Ray had gotten to know her pretty well over the years, learning when she was getting fed up, and Katherine herself found Ray’s talkativeness adorable.

 

Once they got to the train station, paid the fare, and got out of the cab, though, any relaxation Katherine had accomplished on the ride vanished. The Central City Train Station would be dangerous for them both. They’d already be attracting enough glances due to Ray’s exosuit, and the first thing Katherine did was duck into a store selling cheap luggage and get the biggest duffel she could find, as well as a Central City Comets hoodie in Ray’s size and a pair of reading glasses. She also bought a few Clif bars. Over time, she’d found that they provided the best balance of taste and quick energy. Hopefully, the clothes would be enough to disguise Ray. She shoved him into a family bathroom and thrust the bag and hoodie at him. “Get the suit off and put the hoodie over your shirt.”

 

Ray hurried to comply, nimble fingers undoing the hidden latches. He was used to listening to her. “Uh, how are we gonna get the suit back to Star City?”

 

Katherine unzipped the duffel, grabbed a piece of armor, and picked it up, testing the weight before dropping it in the duffel.

 

Ray raised an eyebrow. “I built the suit out of dwarf star alloy. You sure you can handle carrying that?”

 

Katherine nodded as she packed up the suit. “If we move quickly, yeah. I’m pretty sure I’ve got enough mojo left from breaking into that building to get us started, and the KE from walking through the train station and bumping into people by mistake should be enough to get me through.” It struck her then, as she shouldered the bag with a grunt of effort, that this was the first time in recent memory, maybe ever, that she’d been glad to have superpowers. Without her strength, they might have been stuck in here for God only knew how long. Thankfully, her superstrength held out long enough for her to make it onto the train and collapse into her seat, the duffel on the table between her and Ray.

 

Ray opened his mouth, but Katherine raised a hand to cut him off. “Ray, whatever it is, I’m pretty sure it can wait until we get back to Star City. Right now I’m really tired and I need a nap. So please don’t wake me up unless the train is on fire or under attack or something, okay?”

 

Ray smiled softly. “Of course, Katherine. Can I wake you up when we get to Star City?”

 

“Yeah, whatever.” Then Katherine leaned back in her seat and went to sleep.

 

<h/r>

 

It seemed like barely a few seconds had passed before the train was pulling into the Star City station with a loud hiss and Ray was nudging her awake.

 

“Wake up, Katherine, we’re home.”

 

Katherine cracked open one eye to see the familiar platform of Star City’s train station through the wide windows of the train car. She sat up slowly, yawning and taking stock of her condition. Overall, she felt pretty good. Her muscles ached, hunger still gnawed at her stomach, and she desperately needed a good night’s sleep in an actual bed. But the nap had provided enough rest for her to function well until she got back to her apartment.

 

“Great. The sooner we can get you to your lab and off the streets, the happier I’ll be. I might need a little help getting the suit to my car, though.” If she didn’t use the strength she gained, it tended to bleed off over time. She’d probably used the last of it getting the suit to the train in the first place, and anything that might have remained had probably dissipated on the 600-mile trip back to Star City.

 

She and Ray wrestled the duffel off the table. Ray grabbed one handle, and Katherine grabbed the other. Awkwardly, they made their way out of the station. Katherine’s eyes swept back and forth, carefully scanning the crowd. If they were stopped, if the bag got searched… Katherine would _really_ prefer not to have to answer those questions. She didn’t relax completely until they had reached her green Prius, safely stowed the ATOM suit in the trunk, and had pulled onto the main road. Katherine could sense that Ray wanted to talk, but out of respect for her tiredness and hunger, he refrained. On the one hand, this made her smile because it showed how well her friend knew her. On the other hand, despite her determined lack of interest in superhero-ing, she was aching to know how Ray had ended up on a Central City rooftop with a busted suit. So Katherine drove through the streets of Star City, going as fast as possible without breaking any traffic laws. She’d found that obeying the letter of the law, paying your taxes, showing up for jury duty, and driving at the speed limit were excellent means of maintaining a low profile.

 

Ray’s lab was in the middle of an abandoned PalmerTech warehouse he’d wired for utilities and fixed up with band saws, welders, arc welders, acetylene torches, multiple toolboxes, and some devices Katherine didn’t even have a name for. Sound echoed like crazy in the old building, and scorch marks from some of Ray’s more ill-fated experiments decorated the walls. These days, it was their most frequent hangout. Ray would sit at the workbench, doing Science!™, working on upgrades for the suit, or just plain tinkering while Katherine perched in a cozy armchair, reading a book or working on paperwork for PT, where she worked as legal counsel and did a tidy business helping employees do their taxes on the side. Occasionally, he’d call her over for help, asking her to hold this component or grab that tool. They’d fall into the companionable silence of friends who derive calm and pleasure simply from being near each other.

 

Something told Katherine that today would be anything but silent.

 

Ray unlocked the building and pulled the door open with an ear-shattering screech. The lights came up with a low _thump_ as they walked in, and Katherine sighed in relief as the delicious odor of Big Belly Burger came wafting towards her. Pushing past Ray, she ran forward to find the takeout she’d asked Felicity for waiting on a table beside her armchair, piping hot (or cold in the sushi’s case) and ready to eat. She flopped into the chair and pulled out one of the sushi orders, flipping the top off, popping a piece into her mouth, and letting out a little sigh as the mixture of the savory sauce, sweet rice and fish, and mouthwatering texture spread out across her tongue.

 

In front of her, Ray snorted as he began to start setting up at his worktable. “That good, huh?”

 

Katherine blushed as she responded around her mouthful of food. “Keep making comments like that and I might eat all of the California rolls Felicity got for you.”

 

Ray gasped, and he held a hand to his chest in mock betrayal. “You wound me, my good lady!”

 

She pointed a chopstick at him. “You watch me. You watch me! See, I’m getting the roll out of the bag now. Doesn’t it look delicious, Ray?” She grabbed a piece of the sushi between her chopsticks and slowly, teasingly began to raise it to her lips.

 

Ray scrambled over to her. “Katherine…”

 

She snorted at his antics. “Oh, fine. Deprive a hard-working metahuman lawyer of her rightful food, why don’t you? I’m sure I’ll be fine…” But nevertheless, she popped the sushi roll into his mouth. He grinned at her in thanks, and her stomach did another interesting little flip which she resolutely ignored. She handed him the rest of the California rolls and waved him back to his workbench. “So. I can tell you’ve been itching to tell me the story all night. How _did_ you end up on a rooftop in Central City in the middle of the night?”

 

“Well, I was trying to fight my way out of HIVE when I ran into this guy in a brown coat. Looked like Rory from Doctor Who, for some reason…”

 

As the night turned into morning, Ray told Katherine how he’d woken up on the rooftop along with Sara Lance, Martin Stein, someone named Jax (he hadn’t caught the young man’s full name), the hawk-people from a few months ago he’d told her about, and Captain Cold and Heatwave, of all people, and found out from the man in the brown coat, who was named Rip Hunter, that in the future, Ray and the others were all legends of some kind. Then, Hunter had invited them on a mission to stop someone named Vandal Savage.

 

Once he’d finished, Katherine sat there for a moment, then leaned back in her chair, shaking her head and laughing incredulously. “Ray, between living in Gotham for two years, moving here, and becoming a metahuman, I have heard some pretty crazy stories. This has got to be the craziest one yet. I’d think you were playing a prank on me if I didn’t know how the Green Arrow would react to you going dark during a mission for a prank.”

 

Ray blanched. “Yeah… that would not be pleasant. But seriously, Katherine. I’m not kidding.”

 

She nodded. “I believe you, Ray, I’ve gotten far better at suspending my disbelief over the past few years. Just leaves one question, though.”

 

“What?”

 

“Are you going to do it?”

 

Ray bit his lip as he fiddled with some of the suit’s sensitive electronics. “I… I’m thinking about it.”

 

Katherine’s heart dropped a little bit at that. If he went on this mission, he’d be leaving her behind. In the time since she’d started working at PT, Ray had become an integral part of her life. Losing him would feel like… well, she didn’t know _what_ it would feel like, just that she wouldn’t like it.

 

Not noticing her expression, Ray continued. “I mean… It’s not as if I’m doing anything important here. I come back from the dead, and my legacy amounts to a renamed city. The buildings, the money, the inventions, the tech… the world moved on without me, like I had never existed. But… Rip’s offering me a chance to do something that matters! He’s offering me a chance to be remembered. To save the world. Something tells me that if I don’t take that chance, I will regret it for the rest of my life.”

 

He turned to her, and Katherine saw the doubt in his eyes that he so very rarely let the rest of the world see. “But if I go… what will happen to Felicity and the rest? What will happen to you?”

 

Katherine shrugged. “I expect I’ll just do what I did when you were dead, except this time I won’t have your estate to deal with. I’ll help Felicity run the company. Business as usual.” She paused. “I will miss you, though.”

 

Ray paused, and Katherine’s stomach dropped. She knew Ray Palmer, knew _exactly_ how he prepared to launch a new, impossible idea.

 

“Well,” he said, “you could come with me.” He smiled hopefully at her, and Katherine’s stomach lurched, flipped, and clenched all at once, doing a veritable gymnastics routine within her.

 

Yep. Impossible idea, right on cue.


	2. The Decision

 

“Well,” he said, “you could come with me.”

 

The moment the words left his mouth, Ray immediately wished he could unsay them. He knew that becoming a superhero was the last thing Katherine wanted. He’d been there when she’d first realized she’d gained powers after the particle accelerator explosion, seen the fear on her face after Caitlin Snow had explained that there were people who would try to figure out how her powers worked by any means necessary.

 

At the same time, hope flared in his chest at the idea that Katherine might actually come with him. She’d been a fixture in his life for so long, ever since she’d walked into his office and introduced herself as Palmer Tech’s in-house legal counsel. She’d become his right hand, making sure he remembered to eat and sleep whenever he went on _Science!_ Benders, as she called them, and handling the practical components that came with running a tech company that he couldn’t always handle. She’d stood by him through everything – losing Anna, building the ATOM suit, his ill-fated relationship with Felicity. Dying and coming back six months later only to find his company in shambles and his legacy amounting to nothing but a renamed city.

 

Katherine had been the only part of his old life to carry over into his new one. She’d been there as he realized how little impact he’d had on the world. She’d been there as he’d slowly begun adjusting to the realities of being legally dead. She’d been there as he’d floated aimlessly for the past two months, trying to figure out what his new place in the world was.

 

Then Rip Hunter had knocked him out, taken him to a rooftop in Central City, and given him the opportunity of a lifetime. For the first time since he’d come back from the dead, Ray had a chance at a purpose again. He had a cause, something to work for. He’d be able to change the world once more. He’d been planning to take Rip up on his offer – until Katherine Walker had walked onto the rooftop and reminded him exactly what he had to lose. He had only two people really tying him to the present, Katherine and Felicity.

 

Felicity… He would stay if Felicity asked him to, but if not, he’d be able to go with a clear mind and a clear heart.

 

Katherine, on the other hand… Katherine was a completely different story. When she’d walked onto that roof, he’d realized that if he went with Rip, it would mean leaving Katherine behind. He didn’t think he could do that. Katherine was a part of his life, practically a part of him, and he would feel her absence like the loss of a limb. Ray had spent the entirety of the journey back to Star City torn between his desire to go on the mission and his desire to be with Katherine, trying to figure out what to do.

 

It was only when he’d asked himself what she’d do in his absence that he realized that he didn’t want to leave without her. Now, as his words hung in the air between them and Katherine looked at him in shock, Ray really didn’t know what to do.

 

Finally, after twelve seconds that seemed like twelve eternities, Katherine responded. “Why?”

 

_Why?_ thought Ray. _Because you’re my best friend. Because you’ve always had my back. Because I can’t imagine my life without you. Because my head would probably fall off if you weren’t there to keep it screwed on._

 

Instead, he said, “Because I think you could seriously do some good on the mission.”

 

Katherine gasped and laughed at the insinuation that she could do anything to help the likes of Sara Lance, Firestorm, Captain Cold, and the Atom. “ _Me? Help?_ Ray, are you _sure_ that flashy thing Hunter hit you with didn’t scramble your brains along with your suit? You and the other people he’s invited are scientists, warriors, thieves. They’re actually the kind of people you think of when you wonder who you’d invite along to defeat some immortal bad guy. Me? I’m just a lawyer with superpowers I don’t want or know how to use!”

 

Ray shook his head. “Exactly! We’re going to be time traveling, following Savage across history. You don’t think someone with your knack for following paper trails might be useful?”

 

Katherine raised an eyebrow. Of all the impossible ideas Ray had ever proposed, this one was probably the most impossible yet, and that included building something that could shrink on command. “I’m pretty sure you’re thinking of my cousin the historian,” she responded skeptically. She was a completely ordinary professional woman in her thirties. She didn’t have any special training, only a set of abilities that she didn’t really know how to use. Honestly, if Ray wanted someone to follow a paper trail, then why didn’t he ask someone who could actually handle herself out there?

 

Ray got up from his workbench to kneel in front of her, looking earnestly into her eyes. “I’m not talking about your cousin, Katherine. I’m talking about you. You can do this. I’ve seen what you’re capable of. All those investigations for Internal Affairs, all your experience figuring out how to exploit loopholes in the tax code... I figure that if you’ve done it before, you can do it again and spot when someone else is doing the same thing.”

 

Katherine bit her lower lip as she considered Ray’s words. “You do have a point there, Ray. I know how to track someone based on financial and legal documents. Everyone leaves a footprint in paperwork somewhere, no matter how small. If we can’t find him through… whatever conventional means are for time travel, then I might be able to track him that way.”

 

Ray bit back a grin – she’d said we! – before responding. “So… does that mean you’ll do it? You’ll come with me?”

 

Katherine fiddled with her chopsticks as she thought it over. On the one hand, this was _exactly_ the kind of risk that would bring ARGUS right to her doorstep. At least…it was the kind of risk that would bring them under ordinary circumstances. Ray had said the mission would involve time travel. Did that mean they’d be going to a time where ARGUS didn’t exist, where she hadn’t been born yet, where nobody knew that someone with her abilities existed? She knew that going on the mission would mean she’d still be in danger. But the thought of being able to live without the threat of Amanda Waller looming over her shoulder… that would be worth any amount of danger.

 

Besides… this was _Ray._ Ray, who was her oldest friend. Ray, who had helped her come to terms with being a metahuman. Ray, who had stood by her throughout everything. Ray, whom she would follow to hell and back.

 

Really, when she thought of it that way, the choice was obvious.  She looked back at Ray, decision made. “I’ll do it. I’ll go on this mission…quest…thing with you.”

 

Ray let out an incredulous bark of laughter as his face broke into a shocked smile. “Really?”

 

“Someone’s gonna have to look after you out there.”

 

Ray laughed again and caught Katherine up in a bear hug, whirling her around before setting her back on her feet. For a moment, he contemplated kissing her before pushing the idea away – _no, bad Ray! She’s just your friend…_  He could hardly believe his ears. _Katherine was coming with him._ Somehow, his amazing best friend trusted him enough to follow him on their most uncertain adventure yet. His life had changed so much in the past few months, and he hadn’t liked many of the changes. Right now, though? Right now he felt like the luckiest man alive.

 

Katherine looked up at Ray – she sometimes forgot how _tall_ he was – to find him the happiest she’d seen him since he’d escaped from HIVE. She found herself smiling back up at him, caught up in his infectious joy. He pulled her close again. “Thank you, Katherine. Thank you so much.”

 

She let him hug her a little longer before pulling away. “Thank me by telling me how I’m going to get on a mission where I haven’t been invited.”

 

Ray’s jubilant expression morphed into that same expression he’d had earlier, when she’d asked him what had happened on the rooftop. Katherine was crossing her fingers that he wouldn’t say what she thought he was gonna say…

 

“I have a plan.”

 

_Oh, crap._

<h/r>

 

“Ray, your plans suck.”

 

“It was the best I could come up with on short notice!”

 

“Putting me in the ATOM suit, shrinking me, and stuffing me in your backpack was the best you could come up with?”

 

For the umpteenth time, Katherine was beginning to regret participating in one of Ray’s harebrained ideas, of which had to be the most harebrained yet. Ray’s plan to sneak Katherine on the mission consisted of putting her in the ATOM suit, shrinking her so she could fit in a backpack, and simply carrying her wherever they needed to go.

 

_Of course,_ Katherine seethed, _Ray forgot to consider a few things that might have been a wee bit important!_

One: Ray had built the suit to conform to his measurements. While this worked very well on his broad-shouldered, 6-foot-something frame, the suit didn’t fit Katherine, who was only 5’6”, very well. Her ankles were cramping up from the effort it took to keep her feet pointed in the suit legs – they didn’t even touch the soles of the boots.

 

Two: They had never actually tested how someone else’s body would hold up to shrinking while wearing the suit. Instead, they’d counted on the invulnerability Katherine’s powers gave her to see her through.

 

Three: Because Katherine’s weight remained the same, just sitting in Ray’s pocket wouldn’t work, otherwise she would literally rip right through the fabric. As a result, they’d had to embark on one of the weirder projects of Ray’s scientific career: modifying a backpack to safely hold at least 200 pounds compressed into a space the size of an iPhone while still allowing Ray to walk normally. Katherine didn’t think she’d ever seen Ray drink so much coffee in one sitting. She’d only let him have so much in the first place because this was so time-sensitive. However, because it was so time-sensitive, they also hadn’t really had time to make sure the backpack was _comfortable._ She was hot and sweaty because she was wearing a _metal suit of armor,_ her muscles ached, she felt squished and cramped, and she couldn’t get comfortable because of Ray’s constant movements. Thankfully, she’d taken some Dramamine before they’d left. Ray would be so mad if she threw up in his suit.

 

Ray’s voice sounded in her ear- they’d decided to use more conventional coms in order to stay in touch. “We’re almost there, Katherine; I can see the others walking up. Well, most of them are walking, Stein and Jax seem to be driving…”

 

“ _Ray…”_ she growled.

 

“Anyway! I’m keeping the coms open so you can hear what’s happening but I don’t think I’ll be able to talk directly to you for a bit. If you need to come out, let me know, okay?”

 

“Okay. Now, go!”

 

For a moment, Ray was silent. Then he turned and started walking. “Professor Stein! Jax! Nice to see you again!”

 

A kindly-sounding older man answered. “You as well, Mr. Palmer.”

 

Then, a younger kid spoke up. “Hey, Ray. Why’d I let you talk me into this again?”

 

_Nice to see you again? Ray, what did you do?_ Had he snuck out of the warehouse while Katherine was sleeping again?

 

“I think we’re being punked,” said Ray. “Do people still say ‘punked’?” he added after a moment. Katherine snickered.

 

A woman’s sardonic voice answered. “No.”

 

Just then, Katherine heard two more sets of feet. A man with the sarcastic voice greeted them. “You don’t look too happy to be here.”

 

A woman answered him. “Perceptive.”

 

Then, Katherine stiffened as she heard the British-accented voice from the recording. “Well, I see you’ve all decided to come.”

 

The professor said, “Well, then, we can be on our way.”

 

“I ain’t footing it anywhere,” snapped the sarcastic man.

 

“A Time Master’s sacred charge is to do no harm to the timeline,” responded the Briton. What the hell was a Time Master?

 

Suddenly, there was a strange whooshing noise, and everyone gasped in shock, especially Ray and the professor. “Can you imagine what a timeship would look like in, say, Victorian England?” continued the Briton.

 

“Holographic indigenous camouflage projection,” breathed the professor in shock.

 

“Indeed,” responded the Briton. “It’s called the Waverider. It’s been my ship for over a decade. Shall we?”

 

Katherine fell forward against the backpack’s front as Ray began to walk again. Suddenly, the soft sound of feet on hard-packed earth gave way to the clank of metal, and they began to go up for a little while before leveling off.

 

Ray pivoted to get a good look at their surroundings, making Katherine’s head spin. “Whoa,” he laughed. Katherine could practically see the beaming, excited grin on his face. “I bet it uses ionic propulsion.”

 

“I doubt that very much,” replied the professor from somewhere nearby, “given that even advanced technology wouldn’t be able to sustain an ionic reaction.”

 

“It’s possible if you stabilize the quantum flux.” Katherine shook for a moment as Ray sped up for a moment to catch up with Professor Stein. “You know, we actually covered this before, Professor Stein, when I was your student, many moons ago? Perhaps you remember my paper on subspace field dynamics?”

 

“I don’t remember you, Mr. Palmer.”

 

“Oh.” Despite her discomfort, Katherine giggled. She could practically see Ray’s put-out expression.

 

They turned, and a new round of awed gasps filled the air. “I have never seen anything like this before!” exclaimed Professor Stein.

 

“Neither have I,” said one of the men, “and considering I have 4,000 years worth of memories, that’s saying something.”

 

“How does a vessel of this size function without a crew?” asked Ray, practically bouncing with excitement. If she knew her friend, he was probably giddy as a schoolboy right now.

 

“I don’t need one,” answered the Briton with a touch of pride in his voice. “I have Gideon.”

 

“Welcome aboard,” said a woman with a cool voice. “I am Gideon, an interactive artificial consciousness programmed to operate this vessel’s critical systems and aid Captain Hunter in his mission.”

 

“Captain?” asked the sarcastic man.

 

“Gideon’s been working on helping me locate Vandal Savage,” explained the Briton.

 

“I thought you said he’s pretty active in the twenty-second century,” said Ray. Katherine gasped. _Twenty-second century?_ What the hell had she gotten herself into?

 

“Perhaps engaging Savage at the height of his powers isn’t the best strategy,” Professor Stein said from somewhere to the right.

 

“Indeed,” agreed the Briton. “Unfortunately, Savage has kept his movements hidden throughout history. Not even Gideon can determine where or when we can find him. But I have the next best thing: the man who can.” Wait, wasn’t finding Savage in history supposed to be _her_ job? “Professor Aldus Boardman. Professor Boardman is the world’s leading… well, only… expert on Vandal Savage. We’re gonna pay him a little visit. Course plotted for St. Roch, New Orleans, Louisiana.”

 

“St. Roch?” asked the guy who’d mentioned 4000 years of memories.

 

“October 17, 1975,” answered the Briton. “I suggest you all strap yourselves in. Temporal navigation isn’t something one wants to be standing up for.”

 

Katherine tumbled into the side of the bag as Ray took off his backpack, sat down, and clutched the bag in front of him. She braced herself- something told her this was gonna get rough. Katherine shook with Ray’s excited laugh. “Time travel. Cool.”

 

“Some of you may experience some slight discomfort,” warned the Briton. “In very rare instances, there will be some, uh, bleeding from the eyeballs.”

 

“I’m sorry, _what?”_ yelped one of the women.

 

“The human body is used to time unfolding linearly. Just hang on and remain calm. All your worlds are about to change.”

 

Suddenly, the bag began to shake, sending Katherine bouncing like a bead in a paint mixer. Even clad in the ATOM suit, with her superstrength operating, she could still feel the effects of time travel. It was like being punched repeatedly in the stomach combined with the world’s worst case of nausea. The Dramamine she’d taken earlier might as well have been water.

 

Then, just as suddenly as the shaking had begun, it stopped. Someone barfed, and the Briton sighed lightly. “Oh, I should have mentioned it before. Nausea is one of the side effects of time travel, along with…” Ray got up and promptly keeled over, taking Katherine with him. “Vertigo.”

 

“I can’t see!” gasped the professor.

 

“And temporary blindness.”

 

All right. Enough was enough. Katherine’s stomach was roiling, her torso felt like one giant bruise, and she had a killer headache. She wanted out of the bag and out of the suit, now. So she started yelling. “RAYMOND PALMER, YOU GET ME OUT OF THIS RIGHT THE HELL NOW!”

 

As Katherine kept yelling, the Briton continued. “Oh, it should only last a minute. After all, that was a mere jaunt. The further back in time you go, the worse the side effects and _Mr. Palmer, why is your backpack talking?”_

 

Ray and Katherine both froze. _Crap._

 

After a long moment, Katherine spoke again. “Hey, Ray? Think we’ve been caught. Would you mind letting me out of here?”

 

She heard the sound of a zipper, and then blinked fuzzily as light streamed into her hiding place. Ray reached in, and she gingerly hopped into his hand as he lifted her out. Everyone buzzed with questions, and the British one didn’t sound particularly pleased. Whatever. She could wait to deal with them until after she had unshrunk and taken off the suit. “Ray? Would you mind unshrinking me?” There hadn’t really been time to teach Katherine how to control the suit’s functions, so Ray had cobbled together a remote control allowing him to control the shrinking and growing.

 

“Ah, sure, Katherine, just give me a moment…” He fiddled with the remote for a moment, and then Katherine’s insides twisted horribly as she _grew._ For some reason, it really itched, probably because her skin had just stretched like a sheet of rubber.

 

When she’d finished growing, Katherine found herself flat on her back, staring at Ray and eight other people whose expressions ranged from concerned to curious to amused to really mad.

 

“Mr. Palmer?” The British man spoke. He was tall and slender, with brushed-back auburn hair and a little goatee. He wore a long brown duster that made him look like he’d just walked out of one of Ray and Felicity’s nerd conventions. “Who… is… this?” He also sounded distinctly irritated. Katherine ignored him in favor of struggling with the catches on the gauntlets and helmet of the exosuit. How did Ray even _move_ in this, let alone fight? Thankfully, Ray noticed and started helping her, nimble fingers finding hidden buttons and clasps. The moment the helmet was off, Katherine gulped down fresh(ish) air. That backpack had been really stuffy.

 

“This is Katherine Walker,” explained Ray. “She’s my… “

 

“Lawyer, assistant, and general life manager?”

 

“Pretty much, yeah. If I’m the Iron Man of this group, then she’s Pepper.”

 

“And _why_ is Miss Walker on the Waverider when I do not remember recruiting her?” The other man’s voice had taken on a deadly softness Katherine knew well. She heard it in her own voice when she was preparing to yell at Ray.

 

Ray unleashed that sheepish smile he got when he _knew_ he’d disobeyed somehow and couldn’t really bring himself to feel sorry for it. “Because I recruited her?”

 

“You told a civilian about our mission and invited her to come along just because?”

 

Katherine pushed herself upright with a grunt of effort and immediately regretted it as her head spun. “Hello? Still here! Ray invited me because he thought I could help!”

 

The British man turned his withering glare on Katherine. She looked him dead in the eye – as a former resident of Gotham City and a current resident of Star City, she’d seen scarier. “And _how_ is a lawyer supposed to assist a team of elite warriors and scientists in a search-and-destroy mission for an enemy more dangerous than any you have ever faced in the courtroom?”

 

Katherine glared at him. There was something about this character that _really_ pissed her off. “I’m a CPA, too. I’m here to help with the _search_ part. Ray told me that we’d be tracking Savage through time, which means you’ll have to find him first. And because I’m a lawyer and a CPA instead of a warrior or a scientist, I can find the trail Savage will leave throughout history. I can pinpoint how he’s funding his operations; I can figure out who he’s bought and how he’s pulling the strings. That is what I do, mister. And I am very, very, good at it.”

 

“She’s got a point, Rip.” Katherine turned in surprise to find a woman with wavy blond hair, blue eyes, and a button nose looking at her curiously. “We have to find Savage before we can kill him, and Ra’s al Ghul taught me that the easiest way to find someone who doesn’t want to be found was to follow their money. I can’t think of someone better suited to do that than someone who handles money for a living. I’m Sara Lance, by the way.”

 

Katherine goggled. “Aren’t you dead?”

 

Sara laughed lightly. “Didn’t quite stick.”

 

Before Katherine could question her further, the British man, Rip, spoke. “I have Gideon to do that.”

 

Katherine rolled her eyes. “What if you have to go find information in the field? Plus, Gideon’s smart, but she’s still a computer. She doesn’t know the patterns to look for. I do. I am using the right pronouns for an AI, right?”

 

“They-them pronouns will suffice, Miss Walker.”

 

Katherine nodded slowly. “Thanks, Gideon. Anyway, Ray, would you mind helping me get the rest of the suit off? I feel like a giant bruise.”

 

Ray winced. “Yeah… I guess the stress of time travel temporarily overloaded your abilities or something.” He moved towards her, and together they set about extricating her from the exosuit.

 

“I’m sorry, did you say abilities?”

 

Both Ray and Katherine froze before turning to look at the speaker, a young Black man who looked to be in his early twenties. Katherine glared at Ray for a moment. Yes, they were among people who dealt with superpowers as a matter of course, but Katherine would have preferred to reveal herself as a metahuman on her own terms. “Yeah…abilities. I’m a metahuman.”

 

One of the men looked at her curiously. With his big, muscular frame, he reminded Katherine of a bear, except bears weren’t bald, and they certainly didn’t have some nasty-looking burn scars peeking out from under the edge of a white T-shirt. “Whaddaya do?” he rumbled at her.

 

Katherine unbuckled one of the greaves before answering. “I absorb all kinetic energy applied to me and get stronger in proportion to the amount of energy I absorb. This means I have a form of superstrength and am very difficult to injure. Ray’s pretty sure I could shrug off a direct hit from an Abrams main battle tank, Mr.…”

 

“Name’s Mick Rory,” he replied. Katherine’s eyes widened – she’d known that two of her maybe teammates were wanted felons, but somehow, having Rory, who was _definitely_ the more intimidating of the two, asking her about her powers made it seem that much more real. “And I barely got a word of that.”

 

Katherine pinched the bridge of her nose. “Sorry, I don’t tell a lot of people what I can do so I’m really not very good at this. Basically, force acts on me, I get strong and hard to hurt. The more force acting on me, the stronger I get.”

 

Rory frowned in consideration. “Show me.”

 

Katherine frowned. She’d never consciously shown off her powers before, and as a result, had no idea what kind of demonstration would be most effective. Should she do a pushup with Ray sitting on her back or something? Punch a hole in something? Bend a metal bar with her bare hands? “Uhh… is there a piece of metal piping or something around here that nobody’s gonna miss very much?”

 

Rip sighed and darted into another room before returning with a thick bar of what looked like stainless steel. Katherine cracked her knuckles before taking it from his hands. Despite the fact that she ached all over, the stresses of time traveling in an ATOM suit had supercharged her muscles.

 

With the screech of bending metal, the steel crumpled like tissue paper in her hands. Everyone’s jaws dropped. A woman with light brown skin and curly hair tried to set up a round of applause, but nobody really seemed interested.

 

Finally, Ray spoke up. “So! Uh, how about everyone introduce themselves? You obviously know Katherine and I, but… I’m just gonna shut up now,” he said, noticing the vein throbbing in Rip’s forehead.

 

But to Katherine’s surprise, the others seemed to agree with Ray’s suggestion. A lovely woman with curly black hair and nut-brown skin nodded. “We’re all going to be risking our lives for each other in the next few months. May as well get to know each other. I’m Kendra Saunders, former barista. Cisco calls me Hawkgirl.”

 

The man next to her spoke next. “Carter Hall. Cisco calls me Hawkman.” Katherine frowned. How come Carter got to be Hawkman and Kendra was stuck with Hawkgirl? When she got back, she and Cisco were gonna have _words._

 

Sara waved lightly. “Sara Lance. White Canary.”

 

Rory just grunted, and the man next to him rolled his pale blue eyes and introduced them both in an unmistakable sarcastic drawl. “I’m Leonard Snart. Ramon calls me Captain Cold. You’ve already met my partner, Mick. He normally goes by Heatwave.”

 

The Black kid went next. “I’m Jefferson Jackson, but everyone calls me Jax. Grey over there and I are Firestorm.”

 

Professor Stein sighed. “I am Professor Martin Stein. Jefferson and I combine to form Firestorm.”

 

Ray smiled at everyone. “You guys already know me, but I’m Ray Palmer, the ATOM. All right there, Katherine?”

 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Katherine shrugged out of the breastplate, the last piece of armor, and sighed. “Ray, you could not pay me to wear that thing again. I’m Katherine Walker, no nickname because I’m not a superhero or supervillain or whatever.” Shakily, she tried to stand up, buy a wave of nausea swept over her. “Time travelling in an ATOM suit: zero out of ten, would not recommend,” she groaned.

 

Then, she threw up all over Rip’s shoes.

 

<h/r>

 

Eventually, Ray, Sara, and the rest had Katherine safely ensconced in the medbay. Gideon diagnosed her with several bruises and time travel sickness (apparently it was like carsickness but with time travel) before prescribing an analgesic which made Katherine sigh in relief as it hit her system. She might be able to shrug off a blast from a main battle tank, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt like hell. “So, Rip,” she asked, “what are you gonna do with me?”

 

Rip checked his watch before glaring at her and answering. “You, Miss Walker, are staying on the Waverider until I have time to bring you back to 2016. I am going to take Mr. Palmer, Mr. Jackson, Dr. Stein, Miss Saunders, and Mr. Hall with me to visit Professor Boardman.”

 

Ray frowned. “Why aren’t you taking her along? This is exactly the kind of mission I invited her for!”

 

Rip sighed. “If we need to analyze any of Professor Boardman’s data, we can bring it back to the Waverider for Gideon.”

 

Katherine raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know if that’ll work, Rip. I know historians, and they are notoriously protective of their sources and documents, especially when they’re researching something as esoteric as Vandal Savage. Professor Boardman’s probably not going to just let us take his documents. He’s going to insist on coming back to the Waverider, which I’m pretty sure you probably don’t want to happen. We’ve got a much better chance of examining them in situ I can do that. I don’t think Gideon can.” She stared at Rip for a minute, just _daring_ him to argue. Oh, she wanted him to argue with her, just for the satisfaction of the look on his face after she proved him wrong. Rip had committed the ultimate sin when it came to her: he had insulted her competence.

 

Rip looked around the room, taking in Ray’s irritation, the mulish set of Katherine’s jaw, Sara and Snart’s considering looks, and finding no help. He sighed, slumping his shoulders in defeat. _“Fine._ If she’s in 1975 without authorization, I may as well keep an eye on her. She comes with us. But she is _your_ responsibility, Mr. Palmer, is that clear?”

 

Ray was grinning too widely to be intimidated. “Crystal. Come on, Katherine! Let’s go!”

 

Rip rolled his eyes. “I just know I’m going to regret this,” he muttered under his breath. This team was really turning out to be much more than he could handle. Hell, he doubted that all the Time Masters in the universe, working together, couldn’t handle the nine people aboard the Waverider. “Mr. Snart, Mr. Rory, Ms. Lance, feel free to make yourselves comfortable back here on the ship.”

 

Sara whirled on her heel, eyes flashing. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!”

 

“You’re _benching_ us?” growled Rory, hand straying towards the butt of his heat-gun.

 

“I thought we were a team.” Snart’s drawl barely concealed the withering irritation in his voice.

 

Rip didn’t even look back at them on his way out of the medbay. “This mission doesn’t require your particular skill sets. Yet.”

 

Snart snorted. “Meaning you don’t need anyone killed, maimed, or robbed.”

 

Rip just nodded. “Precisely.”

 

Ray gestured at Snart and Rory. “Sure it’s a good idea to leave these two unsupervised on a time machine?”

 

Katherine and Rory both glared at him. “Hey, haircut!” snapped Rory. _Haircut?_ Katherine had heard Ray called a lot of different things over the years, but haircut was definitely new. “Deafness wasn’t one of the side effects.”

 

“We better hurry up,” Rip interrupted. “Professor Boardman will die in less than twenty-four hours.”

 

Professor Stein frowned behind his glasses. “What’s the point in cutting it so close?”

 

Rip’s answer made a terrible sort of sense. “Because if he’s destined to die, then he doesn’t have a timeline for us to disrupt, and his impact on the future will be minimal.”

 

Professor Stein grinned. “How brilliant!”

 

Kendra wrinkled her nose. “And depressing. How does he die?”

 

“Uh, he’s found dead in his university from unknown causes. Come on.”

 

On that reassuring note, Katherine left the Waverider and took her first steps into another time.


	3. First Test

_St. Roch, Louisiana, 1975_

Their little group made slow progress towards the university. Rip kept trying to hurry them along, but Ray and Professor Stein were like children in a candy store, and Jax wasn’t doing much better. They all had giddy grins plastered on their faces, and Katherine couldn’t help but shake her head fondly at the three of them. Well, mostly at Ray. There was just something about an excited Ray that Katherine found hopelessly endearing.

Professor Stein laughed as he looked around at the blocky academic buildings and the students moving from class to class, clad in bell-bottoms and tie-dye. “This is unbelievable. 1975! Imagine all the wondrous applications of this technology. A chance to witness the construction of the pyramids, the end of the dinosaurs.”

Even Rip, who had to be the grumpiest person Katherine had ever met, seemed impressed. “I’ve never been to 1975,” he said as he tucked his hands in his pockets and looked around. “It’s rather colorful.”

_Indeed,_ thought Katherine as she passed a couple of students who seemed distinctly stoned. _Between the fashion, the awesome music, and the grown-up hippies, **“colorful”**_ _is putting it mildly._

“So, where can we find Professor Boardman?” asked Kendra.

“In his lecture hall,” answered Rip.

Katherine resisted the urge to go off on her own. She wasn’t normally the kind of person to make impulsive, spur of the moment decisions—that was more Ray’s thing—but there was something about Rip that _really_ irritated her. She wanted to show him that she could contribute, that she could be more than a stowaway and a burden. Katherine knew very well that she was here on a probationary basis. She would have to tread very carefully in order to stay. Going off half-cocked did not strike her as treading carefully. So, putting aside her pride, Katherine asked Rip, who she didn’t really know, like, or trust very well, for approval. “Hey, Rip, would it break the space-time continuum if we just _asked someone for directions?”_

Rip looked at her as if she was a particularly unintelligent species of monkey who had just solved one of Ray’s physics equations. “Miss Walker. It is vital that we have a minimal impact on the timeline…”

Katherine already had her response ready, a skill honed by years of arguing in boardrooms and before judges. “Look, if we search every building here floor by floor, it will take forever, even if we split up. You said it yourself. Professor Boardman is going to die in twenty-four hours or less. We _do not have time_ for searching a place the size of a state university room-by-room. Asking someone for directions gives us more of a safety margin.”

Rip glared at her again. “All right, Miss Walker. It’s _your_ idea. You do it.”

Katherine nodded. “Sure.” Rip was just waiting for her to fail. She would prove him wrong. Fuming internally, she walked up to the most lucid-seeming student, a young man with scraggly auburn hair, a red Hawaiian shirt, and John Lennon sunglasses. “Hey, dude, do you know where I can find Professor Boardman?”

The student blinked at her before answering. “Uh, I think he’s in Lafayette Hall, first floor. What do you want with him anyway? He gonna get canned?”

Katherine shrugged. “I need to talk to him about a paper I’m writing. See ya!” Turning on her heel, she walked back to the group, fighting the urge to stick out her tongue at Rip. _Stowaway 1, Time Master 0._ “He’s in Lafayette Hall on the first floor. I’d think that narrows it down somewhat, don’t you, _Captain?"_

Rip narrowed his eyes at her for a moment. “Any idea where Lafayette Hall is?”

Katherine shrugged. “No, but college campuses stay the same no matter where you are. They usually have some kind of campus map plastered all over the place.”

Behind Rip, Ray shot her a thumbs up and an excited grin, and Katherine fought the urge to respond with a smile of her own. Yes, Rip was annoying, but that didn’t mean she had to be completely _rude._

They found a map in short order, making their way through the warren that was any college campus to Lafayette Hall. Just as the student had said, Professor Boardman’s office was on the first floor. Unfortunately, when they walked in, they found the place dark and empty, papers scattered on the desk and floor. It was like someone had ransacked the place. Katherine’s shoulders slumped. Their first mission was _not_ going well.

Kendra’s face fell as she surveyed the mess. “Oh, man. We’re too late.”

“This is…” Katherine whirled at the newcomer’s voice. “I’m, I’m sorry.” The voice’s owner was a short, dark-skinned man with graying curly hair wearing a white shirt and plaid sweater vest. His eyes widened behind round-framed glasses as he noticed Kendra and Carter before dropping his armful of papers on a desk and rushing towards their group. “You,” he whispered incredulously. “Both of you.”

Katherine shot Rip a confused look. “Who’s that?” she mouthed.

Rip shot her and Ray an annoyed look. “That is Professor Aldus Boardman,” he hissed. Katherine straightened up slightly. Rip had mentioned him while Katherine was still hiding in Ray’s bag. Presumably, he’d shown a picture, but Katherine had missed it. There was a very good chance she’d have to use her powers of persuasion to get this guy to allow her to look at his records.

Beside them, Kendra frowned confusedly. “You know who we are?”

Professor Boardman gave the duo a wobbly little smile, looking as if he’d seen a ghost. “I’ve been studying you my whole life. Ever since, as a child, I first heard the story of Chay-Ara, High Priestess of Horus, the hawk god, and her lover, Prince Khufu. I hoped and prayed this day might come.”

Rip pushed off from where he’d been leaning against the desk. “Well, then, it looks like we’ve come to the right place.”

Professor Boardman rounded on them with a guarded expression. “I’m sorry. Who are you?”

Before Katherine knew what she was doing, she stepped forward and extended her hand. “I’m Katherine Walker. My friends and I are historians investigating Vandal Savage, and we were told that you were pretty much the person to talk to if we wanted information.” She could feel Rip glaring daggers at her, but, well, he probably would have messed it up with his abysmal people skills and general annoying-ness. And besides? This was her first chance to prove herself worthy of participating in the hunt for Savage, her first test. There was no way in hell she was going to let that chance pass her by.

Professor Boardman nodded, seemingly accepting her explanation. “There’s no way of telling Chay-Ara’s story without telling his also.” He shouldered past Katherine and moved over to his desk, extracting some documents from the mess. Katherine shook her head, not understanding how Professor Boardman could find something. She couldn’t stand messiness and always kept her papers extremely well-organized.

Professor Boardman turned to them, spreading the documents out on the closest desk. They all clustered around him to examine what appeared to be a reproduction of an ancient Egyptian scroll. “Four thousand years ago, Vandal Savage was an Egyptian priest, secretly in love with a priestess.” He shot a significant look at Kendra. “You. Or, rather, you in your first life. But you were in love with another. Prince Khufu.” Could he mean the _pyramids_ Khufu? “Savage, or Hath-Set as he was then known, learned of the affair and was consumed with jealous rage.”

Carter shot Kendra a triumphant smirk. “You believe me yet?”

Katherine gritted her teeth. In the few minutes she’d known Carter Hall, she hadn’t gotten the best of impressions off him, and cracks like that certainly weren’t helping.

Professor Boardman continued with his explanation. “Which drove him to murder you both. He prayed for the hawk god, Horus, to damn the objects of his hate for all eternity. But Chay-Ara had a prayer of her own, that Horus would protect them forever. Unfortunately, another life was bound to theirs by accident.”

“Savage’s,” breathed Kendra. “That’s why he wants us both dead.”

Professor Boardman nodded enthusiastically. “My theory is that the three of you were exposed to the same radiation by the meteorites.”

“Meteorites?” asked Katherine.

Professor Boardman turned to her. “I apologize for not explaining, Miss Walker. At the time of their deaths, there was a great meteor shower. Some of the meteors landed near where Hath-Set, Khufu, and Chay-Ara lived.” Katherine nodded in thanks.

Carter nodded as comprehension dawned. “We all share the same power.”

Professor Boardman’s eyes lit up, the same way Ray’s did when he’d successfully explained something to Katherine. “And every time he kills you, it passes to him. That’s what maintains his immortality.”

“That… that’s impossible,” gasped Professor Stein.

Jax snorted. “And us merging and blasting things with radiation isn’t?”

Ray grinned, and his eyes lit up the way they did when he’d reached a breakthrough on a particularly thorny problem. “The meteorites could have contained a mutative element, like the particle accelerator that caused your powers.”

Jax frowned. “So, what evidence do you have? We’re just supposed to take you at your word?”

Professor Boardman’s smile was laced with an emotion Katherine couldn’t identify, somewhere between grief and scholarly joy. “It’s not my word. It’s theirs.” He stepped towards Kendra and Carter, and yep, that was definitely grief in his smile. “But you still don’t remember me, do you?”

“We knew you in our past lives,” realized Kendra.

Professor Boardman nodded sadly. “You’ve told me your entire story, stretching back through the ages, but when I first knew you, it was after World War I, and your names were Joe and Edith. Edith Boardman.”

Kendra frowned confusedly. “Wait, I… we were related? I don’t remember you, I’m sorry.”

Professor Boardman smiled a bittersweet smile. “Don’t be. You always warned me that if I ran into you in your next life, you might have forgotten me.”

He pulled a picture out of his jacket, an old-fashioned tintype. Katherine gasped as she saw the subjects. It was Carter and Kendra, holding a toddler with Professor Boardman’s curly hair and eyes. There were differences, of course. Carter looked a little taller, and he could really pull off a pair of suspenders. Kendra’s hair was cut shorter, but it was still unmistakably _them._

“That’s us at the World’s Fair,” explained the professor. He turned to Kendra with a fond smile. “You’re just as beautiful as I remember you… Mother.”

Katherine stepped back, letting out a shocked breath. This, she had not expected.

Carter’s voice shook slightly as he spoke. “How old were you when…”

“You two were murdered? Ten. My whole life, you taught me to be careful, to keep moving, always one step ahead of Savage, but after tracking you for four thousand years, he’d gotten good. He found us in the middle of the night at a fleabag motel in North Carolina. You hid me in the closet, made me promise that no matter what I heard, I’d stay put. And I did.” Katherine found herself sniffling a bit at Professor Boardman’s story. She couldn’t imagine what that must have been like for the little family. God… Professor Boardman had been _ten years old._ Ten years old, and he’d witnessed the murder of his parents, probably hoping against hope that Savage wouldn’t notice him and kill him too. And Kendra and Carter… dying, knowing that their young son was watching and seeing what no child should ever see, not knowing whether they’d be safe… not a good way to go.

 Just then, Rip interrupted, sounding vaguely irritated at the emotional reunion. Katherine rolled her eyes. She had a feeling she’d be doing that a lot in reaction to something he did. “Sorry to interrupt your family time, but we were hoping you could tell us a bit more about where to locate Savage’s present whereabouts.”

Professor Boardman nodded and pulled out a set of yellowing newspaper clippings. “He hides in the shadows, never drawing too much attention, but every lifetime, placing himself near the seat of power, sowing seeds of destruction. Who remembers the name of the man who whispered in the ear of Gavrilo Princip, and convinced him to start World War I?”

Katherine nodded slowly. “So, he’s gonna be around the leaders of countries or rebel groups or something in geopolitical hot zones? Like, now, we can probably find him in Moscow, Washington, DC, the Congo, or the Middle East. Give me some time in a library, and I might be able to tell you who he’s gonna be around in those places as well.

Professor Boardman nodded. “Exactly. The more the world is focused on destroying itself, the less it notices an immortal psychopath in its midst.”

“With the ultimate goal of subjugating the entire planet,” said Rip.

Katherine clapped her hands briskly. She’d won the historian’s approval; she had her foot in the door. “So, Professor. Where is Savage now? The guy killed your parents; something tells me you know where he is.”

Professor Boardman smiled excitedly at her. “Your initial guesses weren’t very far off, Miss Walker. Normally, Savage can be found in Moscow. But I have a few other guesses. There’s an arms auction going down in Norway. Palestine and Iran are always hot points.” He pulled a small notebook out of his pocket and handed it to Katherine. “A lifetime of research on Savage that all points in this direction. This should help you find him, and the vengeance that has eluded me all these years.”

Katherine thrust the notebook back at him. “Professor, I… I can’t take this. This is your life’s work!”

Professor Boardman smiled softly at her. “And now it is time for someone to make use of it. I know you’re not a historian. Your ruse might have fooled someone else, but I knew the truth the minute my parents walked in.”

Katherine smiled. “Then… thank you. Thank you very much, Professor Boardman.” Impulsively, she reached forward and hugged him softly, making sure to exert careful control over her strength.

Just then, something beeped. Rip pulled up his sleeve to reveal a futuristic-looking watch thingy. He went pale. “We need to get back to the ship, _now.”_

Katherine frowned. “Why? Is everything all right?”

“We seem to have a little problem back at the, uh, vessel. There’s an intruder. We really must be going now. Thank you for everything.” With that, he hustled everyone out of Professor Boardman’s office, presumably to go back to the ship.

Kendra and Carter, however, had other ideas.

Carter grabbed Rip’s arm. “Wait. We can’t just leave him here!”

Rip glared at Carter. “We have to get back now.”

Kendra crossed her arms. “You said he’s going to die in twenty-four hours. And we can stop it.”

“Are either of you a Time Master?” Rip fumed. “I don’t think so. I’ve spent years studying the effects of chronological alteration.” As much as Katherine hated to say it, she had to agree with Rip. For all she knew, he could be blowing smoke about his knowledge. But there was always the chance that he wasn’t and that saving the professor, as awesome as that would be, could have catastrophic consequences.

Carter crossed his arms, jaw set. “Good for you, but we’re not going anywhere unless our son’s coming with us.”

Rip just stared at them for a moment before throwing up his hands in surrender. “ _Fine._ But don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

<h/r>

Their little group ran back to the ship as fast as they could. Professor Stein and Jax had merged the minute they’d gotten out of sight of the town. They were flying overhead, weaving between the trees. Carter and Kendra were flying, too. They must have been wearing their uniforms under their regular clothes or something, because their present attire could only be described as armor. Katherine had no clue where they’d gotten the bird helmets, though.

The little group burst into the clearing where Rip had hidden the Waverider. Unfortunately, the ship didn’t look quite so hidden at the moment. Her camouflage thingy had failed, and judging by the lack of frozen and/or burning grass, Snart, Rory, and Sara were nowhere to be seen.

Most worrying, however, was the man in metallic black armor and a cape firing a very, very big gun at the Waverider. Katherine tensed as the man fired again and a bolt of green energy crackled towards the ship. Her powers could stop bullets, but they’d never been tested against weird space ray gun thingies.

Rip groaned. “Dr. Palmer, please tell me…”

“I didn’t leave my exosuit on the ship? Okay, but I’d be lying.”

Katherine sighed. “Ray, would it have killed you to shrink the suit back down and let me carry the damn thing?”

He blinked. “Okay, that probably would’ve been a good idea.”

Carter, Kendra, and FIRESTORM peeled off to engage the intruder, and Katherine, Ray, Rip, and the professor dove behind a piece of rusting farm equipment. Ray looked on, wide-eyed, as Carter and Kendra fought the armored man, using their wings to outmaneuver him. “Who the hell is this guy?” he gasped. Beside him, Katherine winced as the attacker pinned Kendra and tried to choke her. A stray blast from the attacker’s gun zinged over their heads, and they all ducked back down behind the farm equipment. Rip pulled out his own weapon, a strange gun that looked like a revolver apart from the glowing blue rounds in the chamber. He snapped off several quick shots, one of which caught their attacker in the side and sent him spinning to the ground.

Professor Boardman looked at them with a mix of fear and wonder. “Is that a laser gun?”

But their attacker spun smoothly and brought up his own weapon to shoot at them, effectively forestalling any response. They all flung themselves to the ground. Ray turned his head to look at Katherine. “I’ve got to get back to the ship and get my suit! Cover me!” Before she could yell at him, Ray was off and running. Immediately, the mysterious attacker turned and started shooting at Ray. Miraculously, he managed to dodge the blasts, but Katherine knew he wouldn’t be able to keep that up for long. She ached to do something, to keep the stranger from shooting at Ray, to protect the others somehow, but she had no clue what that something was. She’d taken self-defense lessons after coming into her powers, but she’d only ever practiced with a very few people simply because she was scared of revealing her powers by accidentally putting someone in the hospital. Besides, something told her a few years of classes with Ted Grant wouldn’t be enough to keep her safe against this guy.

Ray disappeared inside the ship, but Katherine had no time to feel relieved, because their attacker had just pulled something off his belt and lobbed it at them. It blinked ominously as it flew towards them, and Katherine’s gut clenched. “Rip, Professor, I need both of you to get behind me, right now.”

“What?” yelped Rip.

“ _Now!”_ she growled. “I’m pretty sure that’s a grenade.” Both men scrambled behind her, and she threw herself on top of him. Hopefully, her powers would enable her to survive the brunt of the explosion and shield them from the worst of it.

Her hunch turned out to be right. Katherine flew backwards into the two men, bruises from earlier complaining. They helped her upright, and Katherine rolled her neck as the energy from the explosion raced through her. Between time-traveling in the ATOM suit and the grenade, this was probably the most energy she’d ever absorbed. She felt like she could lift a tank.

Then, to her immense surprise, a bright red muscle car tore up the road and slammed into their attacker side-on, sending him flying. The doors opened, and out stepped Sara, Snart, and Rory. All three had changed clothes. The two criminals bore the jackets and guns that had earned them their nicknames, and Sara wore a tight white sleeveless jumpsuit and carried a long silver staff.

Snart smirked as he looked at the scene. “We go out for one lousy drink, and you guys somehow manage to pick a fight with Boba Fett.” Katherine groaned. This was not the time for jokes!

Just then, Ray flew out of the ship, FIRESTORM coming around the side to join him. The duo (trio?) laid down quite the impressive barrage, and Rip, Katherine, and Professor Boardman took advantage of their attacker’s distraction to make a run for the Waverider. The attacker kept shooting, and Katherine gasped as a stray blast hit Professor Boardman and sent him flying several feet. Kendra screamed in shock from overhead.

Katherine didn’t think so much as react. She backtracked, sprinting to where Professor Boardman had fallen, narrowly avoiding all the blasts flying around. Once she’d gotten to the fallen man, she slung him over her shoulder before running for the ship. Weapons fire flew around her, making the hairs on her arms stand on end, but she ran for it, faster than she’d ever run in her life, resolutely ignoring the warm liquid seeping onto her shirt from Professor Boardman’s wound.

The moment she was up the ramp, Rip frantically told Gideon to “prepare the med bay to receive Professor Boardman and get us out of here!” As the AI guided the ship through liftoff procedures, Katherine gently lowered Professor Boardman to the floor, standing back to let Kendra and Carter take charge of him. As they ushered their son to the med bay, Katherine just stood there, panting slightly.

Ray noticed and clanked over to her. “Hey, Katherine, you okay?”

She nodded jerkily. “I just got shot at by a Boba Fett imitator and there is blood all over my shirt. Ray, _why_ did I let you talk me into this?”

Ray grinned at her. “Because you lo- _like_ me too much to say no.”

Katherine rolled her eyes, not noticing the slip. “Because someone has to look after you, Raymond. Honestly, sometimes I think your head would fall off if it weren’t screwed on properly." 

Ray chuckled. “C’mon, I think everyone’s heading to the bridge.”

Once they’d gotten to the bridge, Rip was telling Gideon to station them in something called the temporal zone.

Ray frowned. “Temporal zone?”

Rip nodded absently as he worked the controls. “Yeah, it’s essentially a time limbo. We can hide out there for a bit. Another time jump would risk revealing our position.”

Professor Stein grinned. “A time limbo? Astonishing!”

Rip just turned to glare at them. “Oh, there’s something you people don’t know about time travel? That’s surprising, isn’t it? Considering _none of you have ever time traveled before_! Bringing a family member from the past onto a timeship?” He turned to glare at Sara, Snart, and Rory. “Breaking out and carousing around the 1970s?” He turned that glare on Ray. Katherine moved in front of him protectively. “Inviting a friend along like this is some walk in the park? We’ve barely begun, and already this is the worst, unmitigated disaster of my career.”

He’d probably have continued, but just then Kendra stepped forward and punched him in the face.

Rory laughed. “I can see why you’ve got the hots for that one.”

“My son is hurt because of you!” hissed Kendra. “Who attacked us?”

Rip laughed ruefully. “Something of a long story.”

Snart smirked from his place leaning against the wall. “Better tell it fast, Rip, ‘cause it doesn’t look like the lady’s in a patient mood. Neither am I.”

Rip sighed. “His name is Chronos. He works for the Council of Time Masters. My former employers.”

Sara started forward, glaring at him accusingly. “I thought you were a Time Master.”

“As I’ve expressed, time’s not a linear thing. At some point I was, in fact, a Time Master-“

Sara hit him.

“Would you people please stop hitting me!” he yelped irritably.

Katherine growled slightly. She was normally an exceptionally patient woman, but there was something about Rip Hunter that made her patience evaporate. “Then you better start telling the truth, Rip. Else I might join in on the fun. I can assure you, I hit one hell of a lot harder than they do.”

Rip looked at Katherine’s angry expression and decided to tell the truth. “I relinquished my position as a Time Master when I commandeered the Waverider. Chronos was clearly sent to bring me in.”

“You lied to us!” yelled Jax.

“Of course I lied to you. I needed your help… you all barely said yes as it was?”

“What about the legends part?” asked Snart. “Ooh... you lied about that too, didn’t you?”

Rip looked down for a moment before answering. “I chose you all because, a hundred years from now, your lives have minimal effect on the recorded timeline. I needed your help without disturbing the history of 2166.” Katherine nodded. That would explain why Rip had been so spectacularly angry when he’d found Katherine. He’d probably checked everyone’s personal timelines with Gideon before recruiting them, but he hadn’t done that with her.

Ray looked… smaller somehow upon receiving this information. “So we’re like the opposite of legends.”

Rory growled, and his hand moved towards the butt of the gun holstered at his side. “Give me one good reason why we shouldn’t kill you.”

Ray nodded. “Ditto the arsonist.”

Before Katherine could open her mouth to remind the others that Rip Hunter was their only way home, the man beat her to it. “Because Gideon wouldn’t listen to your commands and you’d be stuck here forever.” Did that mean he’d actually programmed the AI to not listen to them with the intent of keeping them in line? Katherine wasn’t exactly thrilled to hear that.

Sara flopped down in a chair irritably. “Great, so we’re not an elite team of heroes on a sanctioned mission, sent to rid the future of its most horrific bad guy. Just a collection of nobodies who time really doesn’t give a damn about.”

Rip at least had the decency to look sorry. “I didn’t lie about the mission itself. Or the brutality and ruthlessness of Savage. Or my need for your help.”

Snart raised a skeptical eyebrow. “I don’t imagine you’re the kind of guy who quits his job and takes on this kind of threat for altruistic reasons, so Rip, why don’t you tell us: what did Vandal Savage do to you?”

Rip sighed, the fight going out of him as his shoulders slumped forward. “The Time Masters discourage marriage. They urge against procreation even more. A Time Master should be free of any personal entanglements that might compromise them. But… I fell in love, and we had a child. A boy. Jonas.”

“Savage killed your family,” breathed Kendra.

“He _slaughtered_ my family,” snarled Rip. “And thousands of other families. And that body that I swore an oath to serve turned a blind eye. They continue to turn a blind eye. I won’t. The last thing that my child saw in this world was that monster’s face. You can be damn well sure that when Savage dies, the last face he sees will be mine.” He exhaled before continuing in a softer voice. “I understand, given the circumstances, if you wish to return home. We can make the jump once the repairs are done, if and when Professor Boardman stabilizes.”

Professor Stein sighed. “I think we all need a little time to consider our options.”

On that note, everyone began to file out. Katherine followed Ray, confusion filling her. Did she even have a right to stay on the Waverider, considering nobody knew how her absence would affect the timeline? Did she even want to stay? Staying would mean putting up with Rip, who, while she couldn’t blame him for wanting Savage dead, had proven himself both untrustworthy and annoying. And it would _definitely_ mean getting in more situations like the one with Chronos.

Ultimately, her decision would probably depend on Ray’s. After all, someone had to keep him out of trouble.

<h/r>

An hour later, Katherine found herself sitting in the cargo bay with Rory, Snart, Sara, and Ray. Ray was tinkering with the ATOM suit, Sara was fiddling with a knife, and Snart and Rory seemed to be watching them warily, although she was pretty sure there was a little amusement in Snart’s gaze.

Suddenly, the exosuit threw sparks, almost burning Rory. “Watch it!” he snarled.

Ray held up his hands. “Sorry! Sorry.” He put down his tools, leaned against the wall, and sighed. “What’s the point of us even giving this a second thought! Rip has already seen the future. He knows exactly what’s in store for each of us. Might as well have stayed dead, cause the world doesn’t need any of us.” Katherine’s heart clenched at his inclusion of himself in the list of people the world didn’t need. She could think of a whole lot of people who needed him. Herself for starters. “You’re just a lost assassin,” continued Ray as he pointed at Sara. Sara’s answering smile was a terrifying cocktail of poison and sugar. Ray’s gaze switched to Snart and Rory. “You’re just a pair of good-for-nothing criminals.”

“I can live with that,” rumbled Mick from his seat in the corner.

“Well, I can’t,” exclaimed Ray. Everyone turned to look at him. “Can’t live with somebody putting a cap on my destiny,” he continued. “Spent my whole life working to be something greater by becoming something smaller. Then some guy comes along and tells me that being the Atom is as insignificant as an actual atom.” Katherine laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“That’s not what he said,” argued Sara. “Rip said that in his future we’re nobodies, but this mission is about changing the future. I mean, if we have the power to change the world, don’t you think we have the power to change our own fate?”

Snart smiled at her. “For better or for worse.”

Katherine nodded. “We don’t just have the power to change our own fates. We have the power to change other people’s fates for the better.” She stood up and began to pace around the room. “When I first found out I had powers, I decided not to become a hero because I was scared that ARGUS would find me, and take me. That fear didn’t make it any easier when I saw someone getting hurt, and I knew I could stop it if I used my powers.

“Except now? I don’t really think I can use that excuse anymore. What Savage did to Professor Boardman’s family, to Rip’s family… that’s evil. True, 100% evil. The kind that goes bump in the night and hurts more people than I can count. And… I don’t think I can just go back to my old life after seeing that. I have the skills to help stop Savage. We all do. I don’t know about you guys, but I … I just don’t think I could live with myself if I don’t at least _try_ to stop him.”

Ray got up and walked over to her. “Then… I’m with you.” Katherine’s eyes widened at his gesture. She’d had no idea he’d been waiting on her to decide before making his own decision. “Let’s go tell the captain, shall we?”

They walked towards the bridge together, not noticing the others in the room following them.

When they got there, they found Kendra and Carter talking quietly with Rip. As Kendra turned towards them, Katherine caught her stricken expression, and knew that Professor Boardman was dead.

“Chronos, even Vandal, won’t be the only enemy we face,” explained Rip. “Sometimes, it will be time itself.” He must have been coming off the tail end of an explanation.

“Whether it wants to happen or not, we’re gonna change time, erase Savage’s future, and earn our rightful place in history,” said Ray.

Professor Stein stepped up beside Ray, fiddling with the hem of his sweater. “Dr. Palmer is correct. We may not be legends in your time, Captain, but we are going to decide our own fates.”

Sara walked in with her usual loose-limbed grace. “I don’t give a damn about being a legend, as long as we end Savage once and for all.”

Jax nodded. “I can get down with that.” 

Rip turned to Snart and Rory. “And our malcontents?” He missed the slight glare Katherine sent him. Sure, she might not trust Snart and Rory, but that didn’t mean Rip had the right to be _rude._  

Rory’s answering smile had entirely too many teeth for Katherine’s liking. “I like killing people.” Well, that wasn’t worrying at all. 

Snart’s thin smile reminded Katherine just why people in Central City had been so scared of him. “We’re in. For now.” 

Then, to Katherine’s surprise, Rip turned to her. “And you, Miss Walker?” 

Katherine’s eyes widened. “Does that mean you’re letting me stay?” 

Rip sighed. “Against my better judgement, yes. You can stay, if you wish.” 

Katherine nodded. “Then I’m in.” 

Rip clapped his hands briskly. “Excellent. Miss Walker, do you have any idea where Savage might be?” 

Katherine frowned. “I’d have to do some research. I’ve got Professor Boardman’s notebook, but ideally, I’d need the rest of his papers as well.” 

Snart nodded, a touch excitably for Katherine’s taste. “Finally, we get to steal something.” 

Katherine turned to Rip. “As soon as they get back, I can start working. Gideon, do you have any kind of historical records database?” 

“Yes, Miss Walker. I believe you will find it quite useful.” 

“Thanks.” She turned around to find Ray looking at her with an undefinable expression. “What, Ray?” 

Ray shook his head. “Nothing. Just… I knew you’d be able to do this.”

Katherine smiled. “Thanks.” 

Just then, Sara spoke up. “You know, Katherine, if you keep putting yourself in harm’s way with us, you’re gonna need a codename.”

Katherine frowned, considering. Obviously she’d know she would need one eventually, even if she was only a supporting player. Having the others use her true name in the field would most certainly endanger herself and those around her. “Mmm… Cisco actually did come up with a few possibilities.” 

“Any you liked?” asked Sara. 

Katherine pursed her lips. “Well, there was Karma. I didn’t like that one too much. But ‘Ricochet’ had a nice ring to it. Reminded me of my grandpa’s bedtime stories. It’d be nice to remember him while saving people.” She paused. “Yes, I think I’ll call myself Ricochet.”


End file.
